


Where there’s smoke there’s...dragons?

by Goose_Goddess



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: AUideas Advent Calendar: 2017, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-03
Updated: 2017-12-03
Packaged: 2019-02-10 02:27:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12901998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Goose_Goddess/pseuds/Goose_Goddess
Summary: Prompt: Working in a coffee shop can have its… strangeness… but it has to be said that nothing topped that one person who Character A could’ve sworn was hiding a tiny dragon under the lapel of their jacket.





	Where there’s smoke there’s...dragons?

Prompt: Working in a coffee shop can have its… strangeness… but it has to be said that nothing topped that one person who Character A could’ve sworn was hiding a tiny dragon under the lapel of their jacket.  
—————  
Arthur groaned and leaned against the counter, cursing yet again his dad’s insistance that he and Morgana learn the business “from the ground up.” He didn’t want to run a nation wide coffee chain, but now with Morgana gone, his father was determined that he was going to take over. And the Friday night late shift at Camelot Coffee during exams week was a bit much. The people who came in were either barely coherent from stress and exhaustion, drunk off their asses from post exam celebrations, or so grouchy it would be safer to poke a bear than to try and clarify their orders.

He glanced at the clock. Still only 10:00. Three hours before he could lock up and then he still had to clean. 

There were only two customers right now.A student he recognized from his English class was typing madly on a laptop in the corner, on his third large coffee (double cream, double sugar, and a shot of vanilla.) And the odd guy from his Economics class was curled up in one of the arm chairs with his nose buried in the Econ text (large coffee, cream). They had done a project together earlier in the year, so Arthur knew his name was Merlin. He also came in frequently. Apparently he shared an apartment with a friend from high school who wasn’t taking classes and had a lot of parties. He was also the clumsiest guy Arthur had ever met. He was the only person, in fact, that Arthur insisted on bringing coffee to. After the third coffee spill, he made it a rule that MErlin was NOT Allowed to carry coffee, juice, or any other liquid unless it was a sealed bottle.

Arthur sighed and looked around for something to do. His father insisted that none of his employees ever be seen just standing around. There was always something to do. He had heard the lecture often enough. As a result, he grabbed a cleaning cloth and immediately started clearing off tables.

A group of girls came in as he was wiping tables down and the volume level in the room immediately tripled; this bunch was clearly in the done with exams and either celebrating or trying to forget by drinking too much.

Glad of something to actually do, Arthur headed back behind the counter to take their orders. After a raft of drinks with far too much sugar and flavored syrup, they claimed a table near Merlin’s armchair and started a loud conversation about their plans for the weekend. Arthur really had no interest, but at the volume, it was impossible to not hear. He glanced at his other customers. The student typing on his computer kept glaring at the group. Merlin just curled up tighter and wrapped an arm over his head, trying to cover his ears.

After a few minutes, the girl’s conversation died down to mutters. Rather angry sounding mutters. Arthur glanced over at them and noticed they were glaring in the direction of Merlin’s chair. Arthur looked at Merlin. Other than spectacularly messy hair, and an outfit that looked worse than his usual (really? Bright red skinny jeans, a green hoodie and a blue scarf?), he couldn’t see how they could be offended. He was sitting down, which meant they weren’t even in danger of having him trip over one of them. He shrugged, and went back to refilling all the napkin dispensers.

“Excuse me.” A very offended female voice interrupted him.

He turned and saw one of the girls was standing at his counter, swaying slightly but clearly appalled and disgusted. “Yes?” He asked.

“That guy.” She pointed vaguely in the direction of Merlin. 

“Yes?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.

“He’s smoking.” She stated. “That’s not allowed. It’s disgusting and it’s ruining our lungs.” She lifted her chin and looked at him aggressively.

Arthur sighed. “Okay.” He walked around the counter and the girl fell into step behind him. He turned and looked at her. “You can go sit down.”

“I’m going to go with you. He shouldn’t be allowed to do that.”

Arthur frowned. “If you want to tell him to stop, you can go do it yourself. If you want me to do, you are not coming with me.”

The girl stared at him for a moment, open mouthed, before she snapped her mouth closed and flounced back to her seat. The muttering immediately started up again, but this time the glares were evenly divided between Arthur and Merlin. Arthur grimaced. He hated confronting people, but he certainly wasn’t going to make it into a public spectacle. 

He walked over to Merlin, who was still curled up with his arm over his head. He couldn’t imagine how he could possibly be smoking with one arm over his head and the other clutching his book to his face. But sure enough, there was a thin trickle of smoke drifting up towards the ceiling. 

“Merlin.” Arthur stated.

Merlin didn’t move.

Arthur sighed, picked up Merlin’s coffee, and reached out to tap Merlin on the back of the hand hanging over his head, knowing what was going to happen.

Sure enough, Merlin startled badly at the touch, arms flailing, and his book flying out of his grip and onto the table in front of him. His coffee, fortunately now in Arthur’s hand, did not end up everywhere. 

Arthur took a deep breathe, then looked down at Merlin. He was pressed against the back of the chair, breathing hard, face flushed. His hoodie had fallen open and…and that was a dragon cuddled up in his lap. A tiny dragon. About the size of a kitten, but clearly breathing out a thin stream of smoke and staring at Arthur quizzically. Arthur nearly stopped breathing. 

Two years ago his father had nearly single-handedly pushed the Protection Against Magical Abuse act. Magic was now effectively outlawed. All magicians were rounded up and either imprisoned, controlled, or killed. And here was Merlin with a familiar. All magicians had familiars, but most had cats or snakes, or other animals that could be pets. Dragons were never with someone who didn’t have magic. And here Merlin was, sitting out in public, with a dragon in his lap.

Merlin noticed where Arthur was looking, and frantically wrapped his hoodie back around the little creature, who squeaked in surprise, but didn’t seem to mind being bundled up. His face had gone white, and Arthur could tell he was terrified, positive that Arthur was going to turn him in.

Arthur glanced over at the girls, and realized they couldn’t see what was in Merlin’s lap because of the arms of the chair. He breathed a sigh of relief, then cleared his throat. He nodded his head towards the girls. “They don’t like your smoking. I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

“I’m not smo….” MErlin’s voice trailed off. “Oh.” He looked down at his lap. “But I can’t head home. My roommate’s having a party and I need to study.”

Arthur cleared his throat. “Well, if you promise not to smoke, you can use my office for now.”

Merlin looked at him gratefully, but clearly confused. He zipped up his hoodie, then started to reach for his book.

“I’ll get the book. Why don’t you just keep your hands in your pockets so we don’t end up with any other spills.” Arthur said drily.

Merlin gave him a dirty look, but tucked his hands into his pockets, and followed Arthur into the back office. Arthur put his coffee and book on the end table, then pointed to the couch. “You can stay here until I finish my shift. I finish up at 1, then have to clean. If you want to leave earlier, wait long enough for those girls to leave. I don’t think they’ll remember any of this, but let’s not take any risks.”

Merlin nodded and collapsed on the couch. “But why…” He started.

Arthur interrupted him. “Not now. After my shift ends and I lock up.”

Merlin sighed. “Okay.”

Arthur nodded. “Does he need anything while you’re back here?”

Merlin shook his head. “She. Her name’s Aithusa. And she’s already eaten. She should be asleep but those girl’s woke her up.” 

Arthur nodded. “Okay. I’ll be back. Let me know if you need anything.” He headed back out front, plastering a bored look on his face.

The rest of his shift dragged by. He was so stressed out he nearly jumped every time the door opened. When the girls finally left at 12:30, he was able to relax again, but he was far too aware of how much danger both he and Merlin were in if they had seen. He wondered again if his dad would have been so strongly in favor of the act if he had known about Morgana, but either way it was too late. She had run after the attacks on Morgause. And now, anything simply reinforced Uther’s beliefs that magicians were evil.

At 1 he ushered the last customer out of the store, and locked the door. He headed back to the office. 

Merlin was curled up again, with the little dragon wrapped around his arm asleep. He looked up at Arthur cautiously.

Arthur looked at him, then collapsed into a chair, facing him.

Merlin didn’t say anything, but Arthur could tell he was tense.

“Why a dragon?” Arthur finally said. “Why not a cat? Or a snake? Or something you could explain as a pet?”

Merlin looked down at the dragon. “A magician doesn’t pick the familiar. The familiar picks the magician. I didn't have a say in the matter.” He looked up at Arthur earnestly. “And I wouldn’t change her for anything. She’s perfect.”

“Well, why don’t you disguise her? Put a spell on her so she looks like a cat?” Arthur asked.

Merlin shrugged. “She doesn’t like it. She says the spells itch.”

Arthur snorted. “Well, did you ever try explaining to her that having her look like a dragon is literally putting your life in danger?” His voice rose as he spoke, by the end it was nearly a yell. “You do realize that that’s what will happen. Either you will end up locked up or killed.”

Merlin looked at him, shocked, and the white dragon uncurled from his arm, squeaking in confusion. Merlin looked down at the dragon and touched her head. “I never thought of that. It just… It didn’t seem possible.” He said slowly.

Arthur groaned. “It is very possible. Hundreds were locked up. Some were killed. My sister…” He stopped and cleared his throat. “My sister had to run before they found her out.”

Merlin and the dragon were both staring at him. 

Arthur cleared his throat. “Sorry. It’s just. I can’t believe you’d do something so stupid.”

Merlin looked down. “I couldn’t leave her in the apartment with a bunch of drunk guys. She promised to stay hidden.”

“Well explain to her about how dangerous it is to see a dragon.” Arthur said. “I can’t imagine she wants to put you in danger.”

Merlin looked at the dragon and sighed. “I guess you’re right.” He was quiet for a few minutes, while the dragon got more and more agitated. She finally turned and squeaked several times at Arthur, stomping her feet. “She wants to know if you’re going to turn me in.” Merlin said, running a finger down her back and refusing to look at Arthur.

Arthur looked the little dragon in the eye. “No. I swear. I don’t want to see anyone else in that position. But you need to learn to hide.” 

The dragon nodded at him, and suddenly there was a small white kitten sitting on Merlin’s lap. Merlin looked at her, then up at Arthur sadly. “I don’t like making her uncomfortable.”

Arthur sighed. “Look,” He scribbled his number on a piece of paper he grabbed from the desk. “I’m on the late shift this semester. You’re always welcome to study in here when I’m working. The door locks, so that’ll give her enough time to shift before anyone comes in.”

Merlin took the number and shoved it in his hoodie pocket before zipping the kitten back into his hoodie and scooping up his book. “Thanks.” He said quietly.

Arthur nodded. “Yeah. Well, see you around.” He watched as Merlin walked out slowly. Then he took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

Well. The late shift just got a lot more exciting.


End file.
